Why You Can't Sweep Crumbs Off The Table With Your Hand: Signs And Facts

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Why should you never sweep crumbs off the table with your hand?

You have probably heard more than once that you cannot sweep crumbs off the table with your hand. And why are such actions dangerous and is there a logical explanation for this prohibition?

Signs and superstitions about crumbs

There are several signs among the people that prohibit sweeping crumbs from the table with your hand:

1. Sweep the crumbs with your hand or a napkin - become the object of impartial rumors and slander. To avoid trouble, you need to collect the crumbs in the palm of your hand and eat.
2. In the old days, it was believed that food should be eaten to the last crumb, because it is in the crumbs that natural strength and energy is contained. Thus, if you sweep the crumbs into the palm, you can lose vitality.

3. Our ancestors had a special attitude to the table, because it was around it that the whole family gathered to communicate and eat. Sweeping crumbs off the table with a bare hand meant that misfortunes, scandals and lack of money would befall the family. And the fact is that an open hand means naked, that is, empty, therefore only emptiness will come to the house. To prevent this, it was customary to cover the table with a tablecloth, and a hand with a rag.

   

   It was believed that swept away and discarded bread could "punish" the culprit for disrespect for himself and for the labor expended in making it

4. Girls are forbidden to sweep the crumbs off the table with their hand, as there is a risk of being left alone. For a married lady, such actions can turn into quarrels with her mother-in-law.
5. Men are also forbidden to sweep crumbs with their hands, for them it threatens with financial problems.

Most will say that you cannot sweep the crumbs off the table with your hand, as this can lead to poverty and other hardships. However, there is no reliable confirmation of this prohibition. Probably, these signs were invented in difficult times, when food was eaten all down to the last crumb, and not thrown away. If you are still afraid of the sad consequences, it is worth sweeping the crumbs with a rag and feeding them to the birds.